Last Hopes
by usevima
Summary: Post 3x21. What if Jeremy hadn't taken Elena to the hospital when he found her? Would she still be alive?
1. Chapter 1

As Elena watched Jeremy walk out of the room, she felt more thankful for her younger brother than she had in a long time. Without his support and his love, she wouldn't be here today. She also though of her friends and all they had done for her—showing up at her house today had been exactly what she needed, even if she was exhausted from the day's events.

Elena walked over to the paint can, picked up the brush and began to paint with the hope that a fresh coat would help renew the room and possibly her and Jeremy's lives. This room had been full of so much pain in the past 2 years—she only hoped that something good could come of it.

A sharp pain in her head stopped her mid brush-stroke and as the room began to blur before her. She watched in slow motion as a drop of blood dripped to the floor. _Is that from me?_ Elena brought her hand to her nose and when she pulled it away, it was stained with blood. Slowly, she felt herself falling toward the ground. Her last thought was that she should try to call out to Jeremy, but everything went black before she was able to say a word.

"Elena—I'm glad we've decided to paint this room," Jeremy said as he made his way into Jenna and Alaric's old room. "I think—Elena!"

Sprawled on the floor was his sister, unconscious with blood dripping from her ear and nose, an empty can of paint spilled beside her. Her pale skin looked almost grey in the soft light of the room, and the tinge offered the appearance of death. Jeremy ran to his sister's side, careful not to jostle her too much in her fragile state. His hands lightly shook her shoulders trying to revive her.

"Elena! Elena, wake up! You have to get up!"

Getting no response, Jeremy pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed a familiar number.

"Damon! It's Elena! Get here _now_!"

"Jeremy, what's going on?"

"I found Elena on the floor unconscious. She's bleeding. You need to get here now!"

"I'm on my way." He hung up.

Jeremy hung up the phone and tried to revive Elena once again.

"Elena, you're my only family. You have to wake up!"

Jeremy continued to try and revive his sister and his attention was only pulled away when he heard the front door open.

"We're upstairs, Damon!"

In seconds, Damon appeared at the doorway of Jenna and Alaric's room, a hard look on his face. He rushed to Elena's side, pushing Jeremy out of the way.

"I don't know what happened. I just found her like this. Help her!"

Damon moved to sit behind Elena and gently lifted Elena's prone form into a sitting position with her back to his chest, his legs on either side of her. Leaning her head back against his shoulder, he bit into his wrist and moved his wrist to her mouth. His blood flowed into her mouth and he let out the breath he'd been holding since he'd arrived as her body began to react by swallowing the substance.

"That's it, Elena. Drink up. We need you to wake up."

Damon could hear her heart picking up speed, indicating his blood was working. Jeremy stood off to the side, running his hands through his hair, worry etched on his face.

"She's going to be fine, Jeremy. My blood is healing her."

The distraught boy let out a large breath and Damon could see some of the tension leave his form.

"Thank God. I don't know what I would have done. Thank you for coming, Damon."

"I'm just glad you called."

Elena began to stir, and Damon brushed the hair away from her face. The small groan she let out indicated she was coming around.

"Elena, are you with us?"

"Damon?" she rasped out.

"Elena, it's Jeremy and Damon. You're going to be okay. I found you unconscious in Alaric's room, so I called Damon."

Elena groggily looked around the room and slowly began to realize her position. She attempted to move into a standing position by sitting up further and immediately felt herself fall back into the arms of Damon.

"Whoa there, Elena. Take it easy. You're still weak from the blood loss. I've got you."

Elena allowed herself to relax into Damon's arms, appreciating the warmth his body offered. She could sense the room falling out of focus once again as Jeremy and Damon continued to converse in worried tones. She allowed herself the refuge of darkness as their speech became too much for her blood addled mind to concentrate on. The last thing she heard before falling unconscious was Damon's voice giving her a resounding "I've got you. You're going to be okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Damon watched as Elena's eyes drifted closed, unable to fight against her body's weakness.

"I've got you. You're going to be okay," he reassured her.

He looked to Jeremy, who had also noticed his sister's inability to stay awake and had quieted.

"I'll take her to bed."

Damon gently lifted Elena's prone form into his arms, cradling her close to him in order to avoid jostling her awake. He noticed some of the color was returning to her complexion and again he felt relief that Jeremy had called him. Unfortunately, the jarring red streams of blood still covered her face and coated her hair, serving as a reminder to the night's events.

Damon walked slowly to Elena's room, Jeremy trailing close behind, and as he crossed the threshold into her bedroom he turned to Jeremy.

"I've got it from here. Get some rest. We can talk about all of this in the morning."

"You're staying?"

"I'm going to stay with her through the night. Just to make sure nothing else happens."

"Okay. Good night then."

"Good night."

Damon gently laid Elena on her bed, her hair fanning out beneath her. She let out a small groan as he released her, obviously in discomfort. Damon moved toward the end of the bed and gently untied the Converse on her feet, sliding them off one at a time. She was still in her day clothes, and he wasn't about to cross any lines, so this would have to do. He grabbed a blanket from the foot of the bed and covered her with it, making sure the blanket was secure around her feet.

Damon walked to bathroom and retrieved a warm washrag. He gently cradled Elena's head as he did his best to wipe away the blood from her face and neck. He rinsed out the rag in the bathroom sink and came back to get what he could of the blood out of her hair. His next task was to wash away the paint from her body, which had nearly covered her arms.

With the blood and paint cleaned from her body and her small form resting in bed, Damon thought of how young she looked. _Barely eighteen. And monsters after her blood._ He took a seat in the chair by her bedside and let her heartbeat lull him to sleep.

Elena awoke to the soft light of the morning. Slowly the nights events began coming back to her.

_Being constrained to a chair while Klaus drained her blood from both arms. Tyler helping her to get away. Klaus dying. A small party with her friends. Jeremy vowing his loyalty. Then pain. A brief moment in Damon's arms, his soft words, and then nothing..._

Elena looked to her left and noticed the sleeping man in her chair, the light of the room igniting shadowy lines on his face and form. _How had she gotten to bed? Had he stayed all night?_ Damon's eyes fluttered open, briefly disoriented by sleep, and his blues met her browns.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said as his smirk came out to greet her, all signs of sleepiness slipping away.

"Damon, what happened?"

"You tell me, sweetheart," he drawled back in response. "Jeremy found you on the floor of Aunt Jenna's room unconscious and bleeding, covered in paint. Have a disagreement about paint swatches?"

"No, it was my head. I remember now. I was painting and all of a sudden the pain in my head was so intense. I must have passed out."

"I'll say. You scared Jeremy half to death."

"Oh my gosh, Jeremy! Where is he?" She moved to step out of her bed, but her body still weak from the blood loss, she stumbled. Damon caught her before she hit the ground, his hands steadying her around her waist.

Damon placed her sitting, back on the bed.

"Elena, slow down. You're still not fully healed. Your body needs time to rest. Jeremy is asleep in the other room. I can hear his breathing through the doors. Just sit down awhile."

"I'm fine, Damon."

"Sure you are. Says the girl who can't even stand without keeling over. Your wounds may be healed, but your body still needs to recuperate. Stay put."

Elena sunk back into her covers, accepting defeat. Damon could be so damn stubborn.

"You hit your head yesterday when Klaus threw you across the room. I think that's what caused your accident last night. I knew we should have given you blood after all that you'd lost. I'm calling Meredith."

"Damon, you don't need to call her. I'm fine now. See?" She attempted to swing her legs over the side of the bed, but Damon beat her to it and had her pinned to the bed before she had time to even register his movement.

"Stay put," he said lowly. "I'm not taking no for an answer."


End file.
